Learning patterns/Quick start to batch uploading in institutional partnerships

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Quick start to batch uploading in institutional partnerships

problemIntroduction for beginner-level developers new to the Wikimedia sphere

solutionA short overview over what different things, tech and people comes together when creating templates for batch uploading material to Wikimedia Commons and good places to find out more about them.

creator• Mattias Östmar (WMSE)

created on13:43, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

status:DRAFT

What problem does this solve?

The problem is the overwhelming complexity of both the different skills needed and to find the different learning resources related to them in the Wikisphere, especially for someone new to the Wiki community- The solution is a very high-level guide with links to solutions to where a beginner probably gets stuck.

What is the solution?

The initial step is to sort learning resources into categories relevant for a newcomer to the Wikisphere as a place to start for non-experienced developers interested in helping out in institutional partnerships.

Things to consider

• When lot's of parties are involved and wants visibility, acreditation and tracking the number of templates adds up quickly
• The need for an easy way to find and "templates of templates" to copy for new partnering institutions and possibly chapters increases with that
• Complex projects increases the intensity of communication between project managers and developers which increases the need for a single point of entry for follow up

Things to consider for project managers

• The decentralized world of the Wikisphere is dizzying for newcomers - repeat yourself
• For a developer that have learned to code the last years, MedaWiki code looks quirky - introduce Lua early
• If the developer hasn't contributed to Wiki platforms before - spend time showing manual editing of actual articles, images, data etc

Things to consider for noob developers

• You are lucky if you're already familiar with templating languages like Django, Jinja etc - batch uploading involves A LOT of that stuff
• Editors on the Wikimedia platforms are unusually tech savvy - ask them about namespaces, URL shortcuts and interwiki links!
• If lost between the Wikimedia platforms - Google is still a great way to find what you're looking for through one search form

When to use

Projects involving several institutions and chapters such as the Connected Open Heritage project that involves several national and international

See also